


In the darkest night

by vermicious_knid



Category: The Mummy (1999)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-17
Updated: 2015-01-17
Packaged: 2018-03-07 23:34:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 868
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3187403
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vermicious_knid/pseuds/vermicious_knid
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Pre-movie. How the love affair started.</p>
            </blockquote>





	In the darkest night

 

 

As high priest of the dead, he was precise in his profession and very little else besides his work could capture his attention. He had taken a solemn oath never to keep a woman in his bed, to uphold purity, and this was a matter that did not bother him. Females were usually slow, dumb creatures he found, anyway. Tittering gaily, with only interest in what they were wearing and to appease the Pharaoh, or the court. Those he had come across had no academic interest either, and of course this was nothing that was encouraged, but even so. No, he thought, they are only in the way.

He advanced quickly in his studies to join the priesthood, and he had a seldom acquired respect for the gods of the dead and the rituals. His apprentice master enjoyed helping him excel. But he thought there was something…not quite right about how quietly joyous Imhotep had looked when he helped preform punishments on condemned criminals. His usually passive, dark eyes full of eagerness as the molten metal was poured over their heads. To relish the pain of others were not words written anywhere in the texts, yet Imhotep seemed bound to this aspect of his studies nonetheless. He wore dark robes, and seldom people other than his personal priests or the Pharaoh ever spoke to him. It was not usually allowed for someone of lesser rank to speak to him directly, but he knew they feared him. In their eyes, he was the one with the gods of the dead, just as much as the pharaoh was a god among mortals. And they were absolutely right.

That Seth I had acquired a new mistress to his growing collection was no surprise. The evening she arrived, he saw her perched on a satin pillow on the floor next to Pharaos throne. As usual, he kept his head lowered in respect, but he did look from time to time across the room. The new mistress did not eat, nor smile or even move much. That surprised him.

He was perched outside by sunset, meditating, as he was wont do do every so often when the sun was low enough not to be scorching. It was then he heard light feet approaching him. He kept his eyes closed.

“So this is where you go after evening feasts.” The informality of her speech was really something scandalous. That he didn’t get up and bow to her when she approached was equally if not more so. He smiled, his own form of rebellion.

“This is where I always practice my meditation, mistress.” When he opened his dark eyes slightly, he saw that she had sat down beside him, watching the sunset and not him.

“So it is.”she said, and nothing more.

She had come to be a surprisingly enjoying company at this time of day, when both of them had no pressing obligations. She knew much of battle, of different kinds of weaponry and had a certain kind of recklessness that was rare in the court, or in any other person he had ever met. He was not allowed to speak of the rituals in the temple, but the details he did divulge didn’t seem to faze her. That she didn’t shy away from the temple of the dead to see him was both infuriating and… Problematic.

He sighed quietly.

“Am I disturbing you?” She asked. He thought she sounded almost amused.

He inclined his head slightly.

She shifted against the temple wall, his eyes fell on the bells strung to her ankle. He avoided looking into her eyes, that was not wise, nor proper behaviour of a priest.

“I am in the middle of a prayer, mistress. “ she nodded at this, and added “Then I shall come back at a better time, high priest. I shall leave you to your work.”

“And you to yours.” He said before he thought to hold his tongue. He felt a strange satisfaction to see her body stiffen and her eyes turn cold at this prospect,.But he felt oddly cruel to have reminded her of her place. She was the only woman to move freely and alive through this temple in a very long time – but at a cost.

Many times they met like this, in the hours between sunset and darkest night.

She was not allowed to leave from her own chambers freely, but when he asked how she had gotten permission to be here, with him, she would stop smiling and say. “ He thinks I am by the river.” They stared hard at each other for a few moments then, knowing how bad this could seem if her location was known. Bad for them both. Yet she looked at him for mercy, and not to the Pharaoh, or to the others. She dared to look him in the eyes, _dared_ to ask him. He sighed in defeat, nodded.

“So you are.” He said, once again turning his head to the scrolls laid out in front of him. He didn’t miss the rare spark of joy in her eyes.

 

When he saw her approaching Pharaoh with the dagger, he did not stop her.

 

 

 


End file.
